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A railroad car, railcar ( American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (
British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a
vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles ( motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles ( trains, trams ...
used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport system (a railroad/railway). Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units. The term "car" is commonly used by itself in American English when a rail context is implicit.
Indian English Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the republic of India and among the Indian diaspora. English is used by the Indian government for communication, along with Hindi, as enshrined in the Constitution of Indi ...
sometimes uses "bogie" in the same manner, though the term has other meanings in other variants of English. In American English, "railcar" is a generic term for a railway vehicle; in other countries " railcar" refers specifically to a self-propelled, powered, railway vehicle. Although some cars exist for the railroad's own use – for track maintenance purposes, for example – most carry a revenue-earning load of passengers or freight, and may be classified accordingly as passenger cars or coaches on the one hand or freight cars (or ''wagons'') on the other.


Passenger cars

Passenger cars, or coaches, vary in their internal fittings: In standard-gauge cars, seating is usually configured into ranges from three to five seats across the width of the car, with an aisle in between (resulting in arrangements of 2+1, 2+2 or 3+2 seats) or at the side. Tables may be provided between seats facing one another. Alternatively, seats facing in the same direction may have access to a fold-down ledge on the back of the seat in front. * If the aisle is located between seats, seat rows may face the same direction, or be grouped, with twin rows facing each other. * In some vehicles intended for commuter services, seats are positioned with their backs to the side walls, either on one side or more commonly on both, facing each other across the aisle. This gives a wide accessway and allows room for standing passengers at peak times, as well as improving loading and unloading speeds. * If the aisle is at the side, the car is usually divided into small compartments. These usually contain six seats, although sometimes in second class they contain eight, and sometimes in first class they contain four. Passenger cars can take the electricity supply for heating and lighting equipment from either of two main sources: directly from a head end power generator on the locomotive via bus cables, or by an axle-powered generator which continuously charges batteries whenever the train is in motion. Modern cars usually have either air-conditioning or windows that can be opened (sometimes, for safety, not so far that one can hang out), or sometimes both. Various types of onboard train toilet facilities may also be provided. Other types of passenger car exist, especially for long journeys, such as the dining car, parlor car, disco car, and in rare cases
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
and movie theater car. In some cases another type of car is temporarily converted to one of these for an event. Observation cars were built for the rear of many famous trains to allow the passengers to view the scenery. These proved popular, leading to the development of dome cars multiple units of which could be placed mid-train, and featured a glass-enclosed upper level extending above the normal roof to provide passengers with a better view. Sleeping cars outfitted with (generally) small bedrooms allow passengers to sleep through their night-time trips, while couchette cars provide more basic sleeping accommodation. Long-distance trains often require baggage cars for the passengers' luggage. In European practice it used to be common for day coaches to be formed of compartments seating 6 or 8 passengers, with access from a side corridor. In the UK, Corridor coaches fell into disfavor in the 1960s and 1970s partially because open coaches are considered more secure by women traveling alone. Another distinction is between single- and double deck train cars. An example of a double decker is the Amtrak superliner. A "trainset" (or "set") is a semi-permanently arranged formation of cars, rather than one created "ad hoc" out of whatever cars are available. These are only broken up and reshuffled 'on shed' (in the maintenance depot). Trains are then built of one or more of these 'sets' coupled together as needed for the capacity of that train. Often, but not always, passenger cars in a train are linked together with enclosed, flexible gangway connections through which passengers and crewmen can walk. Some designs incorporate semi-permanent connections between cars and may have a full-width connection, effectively making them one long, articulated 'car'. In North America, passenger cars also employ tightlock couplings to keep a train together in the event of a derailment or other accident. Many multiple unit trains consist of cars which are semi-permanently coupled into sets: these sets may be joined together to form larger trains, but generally passengers can only move around between cars within a set. This "closed" arrangement keeps parties of travellers and their luggage together, and hence allows the separate sets to be easily split to go separate ways. Some multiple-unit trainsets are designed so that corridor connections can be easily opened between coupled sets; this generally requires driving cabs either set to the side or (as in the Dutch ''
Koploper The Intercity Materieel or ICM (''English'' – Intercity Material or Intercity Rolling Stock) is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Netherlands. The train received the nickname Koploper, be ...
'' or the Japanese
285 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated jointly by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) on the overnight ''Sunrise Izumo'' and ''Sunrise Seto'' limited express services in Japan ...
) above the passenger compartment. These cabs or driving trailers are also useful for quickly reversing the train.


Passenger car gallery

File:Amersham station MMB 18 S Stock.jpg, A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. File:Bombardier S Stock Circle line Interior 1.jpg, An interior of a S7 Stock in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. File:Mark3gner.jpg, British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s File:InterCity2 - passenger car interior.jpg, Inside a modern-day car from Finland File:150243 C Bristol Temple Meads.JPG, A British Rail Class 150 in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.


Freight cars

Freight cars (US/Canada), goods wagons (UIC), or trucks (UK) exist in a wide variety of types, adapted to carry a host of goods. Originally there were very few types of cars; the flat car or wagon, and the boxcar (US/Canada), covered wagon (UIC) or
van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
(UK), were among the first.


Types of freight cars

Freight cars or goods wagons are generally categorized as follows: * Boxcar (US and Canada), covered wagon ( UIC) or
van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
(UK): fully enclosed car with side or end doors. Standard boxcars have about 3.5 times the capacity of a standard Semi-trailer. ** Covered wagon (UIC),
van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
(UK) or boxcar (US/Canada): fully enclosed wagon for moisture-susceptible goods. ** Hicube boxcars: high-capacity high-clearance boxcar ** Refrigerator car or reefer (US/Canada): refrigerated boxcar for fruits and vegetables. * CargoBeamer *
Coil car Coil cars (also referred to as "steel coil cars" or "coil steel cars") are a specialized type of rolling stock designed for the transport of coils (i.e., rolls) of sheet metal, particularly steel. They are considered a subtype of the gondola car, ...
: specialized flat or gondola for heavy sheet metal rolls * Combine car: combined passenger car and boxcar in one wagon * Flatcar (or ''flat''): for larger bulky loads. Specialized flat cars include: ** Aircraft Parts Car: with fixtures for large aircraft parts. **
Autorack An autorack, also known as an auto carrier (also Flat wagon#Car transporters, car transporter outside the US), is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock used to transport automobiles and light trucks. Autoracks are used to transport new ...
(also called ''auto carriers''): multi-level flat for automobiles. ** Centerbeam cars (US): specialized flat for building materials. ** Conflat (UK): specialized flat for containers. **
CargoSprinter The CargoSprinter is a freight multiple unit designed to transport freight or equipment. The CargoSprinter was designed by Windhoff GmbH (Germany) in the mid-1990s. Initially seven vehicles were built for Deutsche Bahn. Four were built by Win ...
: self-propelled container flat. ** Container flatcar ** Depressed-center flatcar or Wellcar or Lowmac (UK): for high-clearance loads (e.g. transformers and boilers) ** Semi-trailer flatcar ** Rolling highway: a train designed to carry
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
s and/or semi-trailers ** Single container car;
Spine car A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of Railroad car, rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars desi ...
, a center sill and side sill only car with lateral arms to support
intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from sh ...
s. See also Well car. ** Double container car; Well car or double-stack car. Cars for transporting
Intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from sh ...
s with a low deck to allow double stacking, commonly used in articulated form. See also Spine car * Schnabel car: for unusually large and heavy industrial equipment (transformers, boilers, reactors, distillation columns,...) * Gondola (US): car with open top, enclosed sides and ends for bulk goods. ** Covered hopper: specialized hopper car with a cover for weather sensitive loads (grain, pellets,...) ** Open wagon ( UIC): railway wagon with an open top but enclosed sides and ends, for bulk commodities and other goods that might slide off. ** Hoppers: similar to gondolas but with bottom dump doors for easy unloading of things like coal, ore, grain, cement, ballast and the like. Short hoppers for carrying iron ore are called ore jennies in the US. ** Lorry (US/Canada): An open wagon ( UIC) or gondola (US/Canada) with a tipping trough, often found in mines. See also Tippler. ** Mine car ** Mine cart (e.g., V skip wagon). ** Side dump cars: used to transport roadbed materials such as, ballast, riprap, and large stone, and are able to unload anywhere along the track. ** Tippler (UK): An open wagon with no doors or roof which are unloaded by being inverted on a Wagon Tippler (UK) or Rotary car dumper (US/Canada). They are, used for minerals, such as
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...
,
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...
and iron ore as well as other bulk cargo. See also Lorry. ** Quarry tub: a type of small railway or tramway wagon used in quarries for the transport minerals, such as
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...
,
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...
and iron ore. * Modalohr Road Trailer Carriers. * Presflo and Prestwin (UK), bulk cement wagons *
Roll-block ''Rollbocks'', sometimes called transporter trailers, are narrow gauge railway trucks or bogies that allow a standard gauge wagon to 'piggyback' on a narrow-gauge line. The Vevey system enables a coupled train of standard gauge wagons to be autom ...
: a train designed to carry another railway train * Slate wagon: specialized freight cars used to transport slate * Stock car: ventilated box car for livestock * Tank car (US/Canada), tank wagon (UIC) or tanker: for liquid or gas. ** British milk tank wagon ** Milk car: specialized tank car for milk ** Tank cars for bulk loading ** "Whale Belly" car: high capacity tank car with a "belly". * Transporter wagon: a wagon designed to carry other railway equipment. * Well car


Common Freight Car Underframe Components (North America)

Freight cars, as share in the above section, vary in appearance by the intended end use. The underframe components or running gear is similar between all car types to boost reliability and lower the railcar cost. The major parts groups follow and are regulated by th
Federal Railroad Administration
(US) an
Transport Canada
(Canada). *
Centersill A coupling (or a coupler) is a mechanism typically placed at each end of a railway vehicle that connects them together to form a train. A variety of coupler types have been developed over the course of railway history. Key issues in their desig ...
or Sidesill *
Trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
* Wheels *
Brake rigging A bogie or railroad truck holds the wheel sets of a rail vehicle. Axlebox An ''axle box'', also known as a ''journal box'' in North America, is the mechanical subassembly on each end of the axles under a railway wagon, coach or locomotive; ...
(Foundation brake gear) * Couplers


Freight car gallery

File:Hopper cars.jpg, American style two-bay hopper cars of the Reading Railroad File:Boxcar railbox.jpg, U.S. type Railbox boxcar File:Railroad car with container loads.jpg, A
spine car A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of Railroad car, rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars desi ...
with a 20 ft tanktainer and an open-top 20 ft container with canvas cover File:DTTX 724681 20050529 IL Rochelle.jpg, North American container train services often employ double-stacked container cars, as here in Rochelle,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
. File:SS851422.JPG, John Deere Combine harvesters being transported by railway in Tyrone, Pennsylvania.


Aluminium cars

The first two main-line all aluminum passenger cars were exhibited at the 1933-35 Chicago World's Fair by
Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century ...
. Aluminum freight cars have a higher net-to-tare ratio of 4.9 than traditional steel based wagons, which have 3.65.


Non-revenue cars

*
Ballast regulator A ballast regulator (also known as a ballast spreader or ballast sweeper) is a piece of rail transport maintenance of way equipment used to shape and distribute the gravel track ballast that supports the ties in rail tracks. They are often used i ...
* Ballast tamper * Barrier vehicle or match wagon, with a different coupler at each end. * Caboose (US) or Brake van (UIC) attach to rear to watch freight trains, assist in reverse moves, and provide rear braking. Replaced by End-Of-Train devices. * Catenary maintenance vehicle or tower car, used to maintain overhead lines *
Clearance car A clearance car is a type of railroad car in maintenance of way service. Its purpose is to check the clearances around the tracks and ensure that trains conforming to the railroad's standard loading gauge or ''dynamic envelope'' will not encou ...
, special car to check for obstructions. *
Crew car :''The term crew car may also refer to a track speeder.'' A crew car (also known as a relay van) is a passenger carriage specially fitted out for the use of train drivers. Interior fittings include a sleeping compartment for each crew member, a ...
aka outfit car or a camp car, bunkhouse car a bunk, kitchen, or tool car for railroad employees. * Departmental vehicle * Handcars, early MOW car powered by passengers with a handcrank. * Maintenance of way (MOW) cars for maintaining track and equipment. * Office car which contains a mobile office for a train company. * Rail ambulance * Rail car mover similar to HiRail trucks. * Railroad cranes * Railway post office * Road-rail vehicle * Scale test car * Track geometry car *
Track tester A track geometry car (also known as a track recording car) is an automated track inspection vehicle on a rail transport system used to test several parameters of the track geometry without obstructing normal railroad operations. Some of the p ...


Military cars

Military
armoured train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a faci ...
s use several types of specialized cars: * Anti-air: equipped with anti-air guns * Anti-tank: equipped with anti-tank guns, usually in a tank gun turret * Artillery: fielding mixture of guns and machine guns * Command: similar to infantry wagons, but designed to be a train command center * DODX is the reporting mark for the
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
Military Traffic Management Command Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) is the Army Service Component Command of the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and is a major subordinate command to Army Materiel Command (AMC). This relationship links USTRANSC ...
. * Infantry: fielding machine guns, designed to carry
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...
units * Machine gun: dedicated to machine guns * Platform: unarmoured, with purposes ranging from transport of
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...
or vehicles, through track repair or derailing protection of '' railroad ploughs'' for railroad destruction. * Troop sleepers


Mobile missile systems

During the Cold War, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
fielded a number of trains that served as mobile missile silos. These trains carried the missile and everything necessary to launch, and were kept moving around the railway network to make them difficult to find and destroy in a first-strike attack. A similar rail-borne system was proposed in the
United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
for the LGM-30 Minuteman in the 1960s, and the
Peacekeeper Rail Garrison The Peacekeeper Rail Garrison was a railcar-launched ICBM that was developed by the United States Air Force during the 1980s as part of a plan to place fifty MGM-118A Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles on the rail network of the Un ...
in the 1980s, but neither were deployed.


Radar bomb scoring

The Strategic Air Command's 1st Combat Evaluation RBS "Express" deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base with radar bomb scoring units mounted on military railroad cars with supporting equipment, to score simulated thermonuclear bombing of
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in the continental United States.


See also

* Air brake * Great Western Railway wagons * List of railway vehicles * List of rolling stock manufacturers * Rail car tracking device * Railway brakes * Rolling stock * Skytop Lounge * Tamping machine *
Tender Tender may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Illegal Tender'' (2007), a film directed by Franc. Reyes * ''Tender'' (2012), a short film by Liz Tomkins * ''Tender'' (2019), a short film by Darryl Jones and Anthony Lucido * ''Tender'' (2019), a sh ...
*
Tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
* Types of goods wagon *
UIC classification of goods wagons This list contains the UIC classification of goods wagons and their meanings. The description is made up of a category letter (in capitals) and usually several index letters (in lower case). The international system for the classification of goods ...
* Vacuum brake


Notes


Footnotes


Citations


Further reading

* * *


External links


List of railroad car manufacturers by country



Paquette Railway Solutions, dealing with rolling stock and power

US Air Force Guard Car G-50
Strategic Air Command guard car, rebuilt from Army 1943 troop kitchen car #8750. Photographed in Portola, California at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum.
Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car.

Rail car manufacturing

Guide to railroad cars
{{Authority control Railroad car